Fox-1A Launch Successful

AMSAT launched their first CubeSat, Fox-1A, Amateur Oscar 85 (AO-85) on October 8th.  Telemetry has already been received, and the satellite is currently in the commissioning stage which may take a few days or a couple of weeks, prior to being turned over to full-time amateur use.

This is a mode U/V FM satellite, that should be reachable using a dual-band HT with a hand-held crossed beam like an Arrow 146/437-10BP (Split boom makes it a bit easier to pack):

http://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-010582

Here is a copy of the Fox1A Operating Guide:

http://www.amsat.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/FoxOperatingGuide_May2015_Hi.pdf

Here is a copy of the latest AMSAT Journal:

http://www.amsat.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/AMSAT_Journal_Fox_Launch_Special_Issue.pdf

Here is a link to the telemetry decoding software:

http://www.amsat.org/?page_id=4532